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A novel by Bulwer‐Lytton, published 1828.

It recounts the adventures of Henry Pelham, a young dandy, wit, and aspiring politician, who falls in love with Ellen, sister of his old friend from Eton days, Reginald Glanville. The latter is falsely suspected of a murder, and tells his story to Pelham, who unearths the real murderer, Thornton, a character drawn from the well‐known murderer Thurtell. But the interest of the novel lies in its lively portrayal of fashionable society, and in such minor characters as Lady Frances, Pelham's worldly mother, and Lord Vincent, whose conversation is laced with puns, largely in Latin. Bulwer‐Lytton mocks the genre of the fashionable novel even while employing it, which adds to the tone of sparkling cynicism which captivated contemporary readers and made his hero's name a catch‐phrase.